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SPEECH 



OF TUB 



HON. GEO. TAYLOR, OF NE¥ YORK, 

^ V 

^., KANSAS AFFAIRS. 



DELIVERED IM THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, MARCH 10, 1858. 



Mr. TAYLOR, of New York, said : 

Mr. Chairman : In the remarks I propose to offer in favor of the 
admission of Kansas into the Union under the Lecompton constitution, 
I hope to confine nayself closely to that question. I do not desire to 
follow the honorable gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Gartrell] in his 
justification of slavery ; nor the honorable gentleman from Illinois [Mr. 
Lovejoy] in his bitter denunciations of that institution ; nor the honor- 
able gentleman from New York [Mr. Burroughs] in his remarks upon 
the condition of the working classes north and south. These questions 
are not necessarily involved in the issue now before the country. All' 
parties and all classes have their difficulties to overcome, their social 
and political diseases to heal ; and he who does most to sooth and 
relieve the unfortunate, without regard to class or locality, will best 
merit the rewards due to the philanthropist. But, sir, in all measures 
of relief, the general good must be considered ; and this involves the 
investigation of other rights besides those belonging peculiarly to one 
class, or one color, or one locality. Our government was organized to 
secure the greatest good to the greatest number ; not for special legis- 
lation. By a reference to the debates in the convention that formed 
our federal Constitution, this will clearly appear ; and it will also 
appear, that the great statesmen of that day were sufficiently liberal 
and national to consider the rights and interests of our common country 
as of greater importance than any geographical or local feeling. It 
appears to me that the same spirit would now enable us to settle all 
questions of difference between the north and the south permanently, 
and to the entire satisfaction of the country in a short time. 

In this spirit I desire to address the House ; and in the consideration 
of this question, I trust that I may be able to rise above all sectional 
feeling and all local prejudice ; that.while representing the people of 
my district, I may not the less act as a member of the Congress of the 
confederated States. If these feelings prevail, it appears to me that 
we cannot fail to settle our present difficulties upon a just and proper 
basis ; but if the reverse exist, all reasoning will prove fruitless^ and 
all labor unavailing. 



r 6 rr 



It is a part of tlie policy of our government to create territorial gov- 
ernments when required to protect the infant settlements in the west 
and southwest ; and also, when these Territories acquire a sufficient 
population, to admit them as States into this Union ; thus giving them 
all the rights and privileges of the oldest and largest States in the 
confederation. In order to understand what these privileges and 
rights are, it is necessary to inquire into the compact between the 
States. By the Constitution all are equal in the Union. The sovereign 
character of each State is equally represented in the Senate, while the 
people or citizens of each are represented in this, the popular branch 
of Congress. In the one instance, the State, the delegated sovereignty 
of the people, is represented, and in the other, the people themselves ; 
tut in both their rights are mutual, and their obligations the same. 
This happy adjustment was not effected without labor and many 
patriotic concessions on the part of the great and good men appointed 
by the different States for that purpose. 

One of the chief difficulties met in the formation " of a more per- 
fect union," when it was found that the articles of confederation were 
imperfect, arose out of the disposition of the crown lands, as the public 
domain was then denominated. The States within whose limits these 
lands were located, claimed them ; while the others contended that 
they had been wrested from the dethroned authority by the equal and 
common exertions of all ; and therefore, that all of the States were ■ 
equally interested in them. '' The lands being of vast extent and of 
growing value," Madison writes, " were the occasion of much dis- 
, cussion and heart-burning, and proved the most obstinate of the im- 
pediments to an earlier consummation of the plan of a federal gov- 
ernment. 

This difficulty was finally disposed of by the action of the State of 
Virginia, which, with a noble prodigality, gave up her vast western 
•domain for the good of the infant republic ; while New York, in the 
game glorious spirit_, in order to settle another vexed question, author- 
ized the federal government to collect nine-tenths of the national 
revenue within her ports ; and the other States, north and south, uniting 
in the same patriotic feelings, gave and accepted all that was necessary 
to secure " a more perfect union, and promote the general good. All 
this was done in good faith, and as equals in the great brotherhood 
in which all their hopes for the future were involved. 

By the magnanimity of New York and Virginia, the ratification of 
the Constitution was secured ; and by it, the members of the confed- 
eration took an equal interest in the unoccupied or public territory of 
the country — not only in that then belonging to us, but to all that we 
might afterwards acquire by the common efforts and the common 
treasury of the States. An equal right to the territory in the most 
comprehcDsive signification of the word ; an equal right in its gov- 
ernment, and above all, and mo-re important than all else, an equal 
right to settle upon it, and to develop its resources ; and, as a neces- 
sary consequence, to carry their property, their institutions, and politi- 
cal feelings with them, whenever and wherever they might choose to 
go into said territory. 

Tliis brings us directly to the great question involved in the admis- 



a 

fiion of Kansas into the Union, under the Lecorapton constitution. It 
is not the frauds and acts of violence committed in that unfortunate 
Territory alone, which give importance to this question ; not these, 
but the great constitutional question of equality between the States in 
the Union ; and the other questions involved in the right of self-gov- 
ernment and local legislation, which, by the special pleading of dis- 
honorable, of quibbling, and of desperate politicians, have been reduced 
to this single issue. 

The southern States go back to the original compact, and claim 
their rights and privileges as guarantied by it. They insist, and 
properly insist, upon a full and unequivocal acknowledgment of their 
equality in the Union ; while certain States in the north refuse to 
keep the conditions of the fundamental law, repudiate their solemn 
contract, and, in open violation of it, seek to defeat its provisions. It 
is true that they have not attempted to interfere with the local legis- 
lation of the southern States directly, but indirectly they have done so. 

These remarks are not strictly applicable to the honorable gentle- 
men around me, who are opposed to the Lecompton constitution on 
the grounds of irregularity and fraud. But gentlemen overlook the 
fact that these difficulties have been intentionally created by inter- 
ested parties, for the purpose of producing just what we now see ; an 
increased excitement throughout the country, and a division in the 
democratic party, which, u}) to the present period, has under all cir- 
cumstances, and at every critical period of our political history, proved 
itself eminently national. 

The history of this Kansas difficulty develops one fact more dis- 
tinctly than any other ; it stands out on every page, is recorded in 
every step of its unfortunate progress ; which is the fact that the re- 
publicans, inside and outside of Kansas, do not desire its admission 
into the Union, at present, under any constitution, or any state of 
circumstances. Their partisans in the Territory have always refused 
to act in a regular and legal manner. Whenever a fair issue has 
been tendered to them, they have evaded it by flying off into some 
unjustifiable and treasonable conspiracy to defeat the wishes of the 
people and the settlement of this question, not individually, but col- 
lectively and on deliberation ; thus clearly showing their party policy 
in this matter. 

What are the facts in the case? In May, 1854, Congress passed 
an act establishing a territorial government in Kansas. Under this 
act, a governor, secretary, and other officers, were appointed by the 
President ; and a delegate to Congress and a territorial legislature 
were elected by the people of the Territory. Fully and fairly the 
whole machinery of a territorial government was established — estab- 
lished by the concurrent action of the federal government and the 
people of the Territory. The legislature thus elected was duly 
organized, and had full power, by virtue of the act creating it, to 
pass all laws necessary for the protection of persons and property, 
and to perform all other legislative acts, subordinate to the Constitu- 
tion only. In the language of Governor Walker, in his inaugural 
address — 

*' That convention is now about to be elected by you, under the call of the territorial legiy- 



ture, created and still recognized by the authority of Congress, and clotlied by it. in the com- 
prehensive language of the organic law, icith full power to make such enactment. The terri- 
torial legislature, then, in assembling this convention, were fully sustained by the act of 
Congress ; and the authority of the convention is distinctly recognized in my instructions 
from the President of the United States. Those who oppose this course cannot aver the 
alleged irregularity of the territorial legislature, whose laws, in town and city elections, in 
corporate franchises, and on all other subjects but elaver}', ihey acknowledge by their votes 
■and acquiescence.'' 

The legislature was undoubtedly acknowledged and acquiesced in. 
It is true that the republicans charge that the citizens of Missouri 
went into the Territory and carried the election in favor of the pro- 
slavery party. However this may have been, it appears that the 
legality of a subsequent election, with the same result, was fully re- 
cognized by a republican House of Representatives, in the contest be- 
tween "Whitfield and Reeder. But, independent of that decision, I 
think that the action of the Missourians will sufler but little in a 
comparison with that of the republicans. The Missourians are not 
yet above the influence of bad examples, and some of them may have 
learned the political tricks of their new acquaintances ; but I think 
the facts prove that a large majority of their number had located in 
the Territory with the intention of becoming residents. They gener- 
ally located lands, and commenced the improvements necessary for 
the support and protection of their families. This is the evidence of 
their intention. 

What are the facts connected with the invaders from the northern 
States? Did they become legal citizens of the Territory? Did they go 
there solely for the purpose of cultivating the soil, and of making it 
their permanent home ? No, sir ; the most of them were young men, 
without families — young and desperate men, who were regularly en- 
listed by abolition societies, abolition governors of the northern States, 
and mischief-making priests, by whom they were armed with Sharpe'e 
rifles, equipped with the munitions of war, and paid by the month for 
their dishonorable, revolutionary, and treasonable services ; precisely 
as the Hessians and other mercenaries .were paid by the English in 
their attempt to defeat our independence. 

As this is a grave charge, it is proper to examine the evidence on 
which it is made. In the first place, we find that societies were openly 
organized in the north for the avowed purpose of collecting funds and 
enlisting men to go there ; that committees were appointed to receive 
contributions, and that public calls were made for money to defray 
the expenses so incurred ; that arms were publicly presented to per- 
sons about starting to the scene of war, with the injunction to make 
them felt. Loud and eloquent declamation was heard from the pulpit 
— the voice of men wearing the livery of Heaven, while ministering 
to the worst passions of our nature, and secretly iomenting sectional 
war. These are some of the evidences by which we can judge their 
friends outside. What are the facts within the Territory ? Governor 
Walker says, in his oflScial letter of the 15th of July last : 

" In order to send this communication by mail, f must close by assuring you that the spirit 
of rebellion pervades the great mass of the republican party of this Territory, instigated, as 1 
entertain no doubt they are, by ea-stern societies, having in view results most disastrous to 
the government and to the Union." 

And again he says : 

'• Lawrence is the hot-bed of all the abolition movements in the Territory. It is the town 
«stablished by the abolition societies of the east ; and v/hilst there are respectable people there, 



it is filled by a considerable number of mercenaries, who are paid by abolition societies to 
perpetuate and diffuse agitation throughout Kansas, and prevent a peaceful settlement of this 
question." 

This is the testimony of Governor "Walker ; and gentlemen will not 
complain if we attach a little more credit to the oflicial acts of a gov- 
ernor than we do to tlie politician acting and speaking for ulterior 
objects. The governor goes on to say : 

" I am satisfied that a large portion of the insurrectionary party in the Territory do not 
desire the peaceful settlement of this question, but wish it to remain open in order to agitate 
the country for years to come." 

But let US ascertain whether Grovernor Walker is sustained by the 
facts. Did the republicans go into the Territory and locate iJarms and 
begin their improvement as if they intended to reside there perma- 
nently, and honestly earn a subsistence ? No ; the history of the 
Territory proves the contrary. They located towns and villages, witb- 
out a country to support them ; they established no legitimate busi- 
ness ; paid no attention to the means of support, and, contrary to all 
experience in the west, embarked in politics the moment of their 
arrival. Sir, this was their business, that which they had been hired 
to perform ; and with how reckless a disposition have these mercenaries 
done their work ? 

It was their business to locate villages, and to make them (as Gov- 
ernor Walker says of Lawrence) the seats of the agitation which dis- 
turbed the Territory — the fruitful nurseries of rebellion and treason. 
It was their business to organize a militia, and take violent posses- 
sion of the Territory, and to rebel against all laws, human and divine. 
These northern invaders were not there as citizens, located not as citi- 
zens locate, and have proved by their acts that they had no such 
object in view. It may well become such men to charge the Mis- 
sourians with trespass and wrong. Sir, their charges remind us of 
the deceptive cry of the flying thief, to "stop the thief!" They have 
too long deceived the police of the country — too long evaded the pun- 
ishment they have so fully earned. 

Immediately after the establishment of the territorial government 
the republicans attempted to establish a revolutionary government 
under the Topeka constitution. They refused obedience to the laws 
of Congress and of their own legislature in all points affecting slavery, 
and began an illegal opposition to the federal authority, in which, 
they have steadily persevered. But they say that the legislature was 
irregular, and had no power to call a cohvention. Congress, however, 
has repeatedly recognized the territorial government as regular. Gov- 
ernor Walker, in his inaugural address of the 27th May, 1857, says : 

" Tlie territorial legislature is the power ordaiucd for this purpose by the CJongress of 
the United States ; and, in oppcsinj? it, you resist the authority of the federal govera- 
ment. That legislature was called into being by the C!ongress of 18o4, and is recognized 
in the Tcry Iate<<t congrcfsional legislatiou ;" c c * e "and many of 

its acts are now in operation here by tiniversal assent " 

This legislature, recognized, and undoubtedly legal in its organiza- 
tion, adopted measures in July, 1855, to submit the question of a State 
government to the people. In the election then provided for, the 
people decided almost unanimously in favor of the organization of a 
State government preparatory to their admissioa into the Union. 
Afterwards, on the 19th day of February, 1857, their legislature 



6 

passed an act providing for a registry of the voters, and for the elec- 
tion of delegates to a constitutional convention , In the performance 
of this duty the legislature exercised no rights or powers not given to 
it by the act creating the territorial government, and not legitimately 
within its constitutional authority. For this purpose it was called 
into existence by the organic act ; for this purpose it was clothed with 
the sovereign power of the people. 

The bill providing for the registry of the voters was fair and just in 
all its provisions. For reference, I desire to insert the synopsis of 
that act, as published in the report of the Senate Committee on Ter- 
ritories : 

" Sec. 1. Sheriffs are required, between the 1st of March and 1st of April, 1857, to make 
an enumeration ; have power to appoint deputies, who shall take oath, &c. 

"■' Sec. 2. In case of vacancy in office of sheriff, the probate judge shall perform his duty ; 
and, in case of vacancy in both, the governor shall appoint some competent resident to per- 
form said duty. 

" Sec. 3. Officers, as above, shall file in office of probate judge a complete list of all quali- 
fied voters resident in his county or district, on the 1st of April, 1857. 

" Sec. 4. Copies of said list to be posted in public places. 

" Sec. 5. Probate judge to continue court from receipt of said returns to 1st of May, for 
the purpose of correcting them. 

Sec. 6. Lists of legal voters, as corrected, to be returned to the governor and secretary, and 
distributed generally. 

Sec. 7. Upon completion of census, apportionment of members to be made by the governor 
and secretary according to the registered voters. Number of representaiives to be sixty. 

•'Sec. 8. Election for members of the constitutional convention shall be held on the third 
Monday in June ; and no one, unless registered, shall vote. 

" Sec. 9. County commissioners shall appoint the places of voting, judges of elections, &c. 

"Sec 10. Judges of election are required to be sworn; also the clerks; and duplicate 
returns of election shall be made and certified by them. 

"Sec. 11. Every bona Jide inhabitant of Kansas, on the third Monday of June, 1857, 
being a citizen of the United States, and over twenty-one years of age, whose residence in 
the county where he offers to vote shall have been three months next before said election, 
shall be entitled to vote. 

" Sec 12. Persons authorized to take the census to administer oaths, &c. 

" Sec 13 provides for the punishment of unlawful attempts to influence voters, 

" Sec. 14 provides punishment for illegal voting. 

" Sec. 15 provides punishment for those who fraudulently hinder a fair expression of the 
popular vote. 

" Sec. 16. Delegates are required to assemble in convention at the capital on the first 
Monday of September next. 

"Sec. 17 provides for an election by the convention of its officers. 

" Sec. 18 #i relation to the salaries of sheriffs and other officers. 

" Sec. 19 relative to the location of the election districts. 

" Sec. 20 requires all votes to be viva voce. 

" Sec. 21 gives a tabular form for the returns. 

" Above bill passed over governor's veto on the 19th of February, 1857." 

This bill was vetoed by the governor of the Territory, because it 
did not require the convention to submit the constitution, when 
frarhed, to the people for adoption or rejection. On its return to the 
legislature, it was adopted, on a reconsideration, by a two-thirds vote, 
and became a law. The action of the legislature on that point wag 
undoubtedly correct ; it had no right to embarrass the convention with 
a provision of that character. It was the duty of the legislature to 
call the convention, in obedience to the express will of the people, and 
to leave the constitution, and the question of its submission, to the 
delegates selected by the people for the consideration of that subject. 
Beyond this the legislature had no authority to go. It would have 
been an assumption of power in the legislature to attempt to control 
the action of a convention fresh from the people. 

I now return to the registration of the voters, under the act of Feb- 



ruar)'', 1857. It appears from an examination of the law, that every 
reasonable provision had been made to secure a faithful registry, and 
to correct all errors that might occur. It is charged, however, by the 
republicans, that the registry was not faithfully performed — that their 
friends were not enrolled ; and hence, that the election was not a fair 
expression of the people of the Territory ; and they charge that this 
wrong was perpetrated upon them for the purpose of defeating the 
will of the majority. The complaint was made by them to acting 
Governor Stanton, by letter dated April 25, 1857. The governor's 
reply, dated April 30, 1857, covers the whole ground, and is an answer 
to their unjust complaints. He says : 

" It is not my purpose to reply to your statement of facts. I cannot do so from any per- 
sonal knowledge enabling me either to admit or deny them. I may say, however, I have heard 
statements quite as authentic as your own, and in some instances from members of your own 
party, (republicans,) to the effect that your political friends have very generally — indeed, 
almost universally — refused to participate in the pending proceedings for registering tlie names 
of the legal voters. In some instances they have given fictitious names, and in numerous 
others they refused to give any names at all. You cannot deny that your party have hereto- 
fore resolved not to take part in the registration, and it appears to me that, without in- 
dulging ungenerous suspicions of the integrity of officers, you might well attribute any errors 
and omissions of the siieriffs to the existence of this well-known and controlling fact." 

Governor Walker entirely exculpates the legislature from fault in 
this matter. It was the neglect of the local officers, in his view, and 
was not anticipated by the territorial legislature. It is true that 
Governor Walker spoke of this matter in a tone a little diiferent in 
his letter of resignation ; but it must not be forgotten that in one in- 
stance the governor wrote as a conservative man, seeking the peace 
and harmony of the Territory, and the proper adjustment of all their 
difficulties ; while in the latter instahce, Mr. Walker wrote as a heated 
politician, in opposition to the administration, and in the hope that 
'' something might turn up." 

■ But suppose that the republicans had a large vote in the non-regis- 
tered counties, as alleged in Governor Walker's letter of resignation, 
it could have made no difference in the result. The republicans 
refused to be registered in counties where the registry was made, and 
refused to vote after the registration, and certainly the registry made 
no difference to them. 

But Mr. Walker says : 

"In such counties where a full and free opportunity was given to register and vote, and 
they did not choose to exercise that privilege, the question is very different from tho.se coun- 
ties where tliere was no census or registry." 

There would be much force in this argument if it were not for the 
fact that the republicans refused to vote as a party, and not indi- 
vidually. They refused to vote after their convention had determined 
that they should not vote, in which the republicans of these non- 
registered counties were represented. Under these circumstances, it 
cannot be said that their course would have differed from that of their 
partisans in the registered counties. 

Mr. Chairman, the cause of the imperfect registry is most clearly 
shown in Mr. Stanton's letter ; shown, sir, hy the testimony of repub- 
licans who were present, and participated in that most extraordinary 
political movement. In our courts of law, no one is permitted to take 
advantage of his own wrong ; but this is the plea made by the repub- 
licans. They refused to be registered in some instances, and in others 



they gave fictitious names ; and they now complain that the registra- 
tion was not fully and fairly made, and protest against it as a gross 
fraud upon the rights of the people. Sir, the history of this matter 
proves most conclusively that the republicans did not desire to settle 
the question at the ballot-box. Their contest was, and is still, with 
the federal government, and not with the pro- slavery men in the 
Territory. Their object was to defeat the action of Congress and the 
administration in their territorial organization, and the legislation of 
the country. In Governor Walker's proclamation to the people of 
Lawrence, of July 15, 1857, he uses the following language : 

'• You hare, however, chosen to disregard the laws of Congress and of the territorial gov- 
ernment created by it ; and, whilst professing to acknowledge a State government rejected 
by Congress, and which can therefore now exist only by a successful rebellion, and exacting 
from all your officers the perilous and sacrilegious oath to support the so-called State consti- 
tion ; yet you have, even in defiance of the so-called State legislature, which refused to grant 
yon a charter, proceeded to create a local government of your own, based only upon insur- 
rection and revolution. The very oath which you require from all your officers to support 
your so-called Topeka State constitution, is violated in the very act of putting in operation a 
charter rejected even by them. A rebellion so iniquitous, and necessarily involving such 
awful consequences, has never before disgraced any age or country. 

*' Permit me to call your attention, as still claiming to be citizens of the United States, to 
the results of your revolutionary proceedings. You are inaugurating rebellion and revolu- 
tion ; you are disregarding the laws of Congress and of the territorial government, and defy- 
ing their authority ; you are conspiring to overthrow the government of the United States in 
this Territorj', Your purpose, if carried into effect in the mode designated by you, by putting 
your laws forcibly into execution, would involve yoa in the guilt and crime of treason." • * 
•' I appeal once more to your reason and patriotism. I ask you .in the name of our comtnoK 
country, in the name of the Constitution and of the Union, to desist from this rebellion. I 
appeal once more to your love of country, to your regard for its peace, prosperity, and repu- 
tation, to your affection for your wives and children, and to all those patriotic motives which 
ought to influence American citizens, to abandon this contemplated revolution. If you have 
wrongs, redresa them through the peaceful instrumentality of the ballot-box, in the mode 
prescribed by the laws of your country." * 

This appeal was not noticed ; and the citizens of Lawrence followed 
up their rebellion by the destruction of houses and other property 
belonging to conservative citizens of Franklin, a small place four 
miles distant from Lawrence ; and by driving these citizens from the 
Territory. These acts, connected as they were with the revolutionary 
government of Lawrence, induced Governor Walker to order the 
troops to take their position near that place. 

Governor Walker says, in his letter of the 26th September, 1857, 
to the Secretary of State : 

" This movement is rendered necessary by the facts stated in my address of the ]6th 
instant; but is also made with a view to protect the polls from violence, not only in the city 
of Lawrence, but also in the town of Franklin, but four miles distant, which is a voting 
precinct, and which has been marked during the present month, since the withdrawal of the 
troops, by the Burning of the houses of conservative citizans, and their expulsion from 
Ranssis. " 

The presence of the troops had the desired effect ; the rebels in 
Lawrence changed their position and their language. We find a most 
flattering description of their integrity in Governor Walker's pro- 
clamation of the 10th September, 1857. Here is his commentary 
upon these injured patriots, these guardians of the elective franchise, 
these precious sentinels of freedom : 

" It will bo remembered that, in open defiance of the laws of Congress and of this Territory, 
and after the refusal of the so-called Topeka State legislature to grant them a charter, they 
nevertheless organized a city government, clothed with all the usual powers — legislative, 
executive, and judicial. It will be recollected, also, thai after my proclamtition of the 15th of 
July last, and the simultaneous movement of the troops there as a precautionary measure to 
maiHtain'the authority of the government, and arrest the spread of this insurrection through- 



9 

out the Territory, they then professed, through their orsans, that what they had called a 
government, and to which they had given all the powers of a government, was a mert^ 
'vohmtary association' for the removal of nuisances from the streets, &.c. But now, when it 
was erroneously believed by thorn that tho troops would all be removed to Utah, and not re- 
placed by others, they have thrown off the mask, and carried out tlicir original insurrectionary 
purpose by passing a compulsory tax law, both a poll and property tax, requiring its assess- 
ment and collection by the seizure and sale of property, and exacting by their charter from 
executive officers, who are to carry out these acts, an oath to perform all these duties, tho 
violation of which oath, if these duties are not performed, would be perjury." 

What a noble picture ! How distinctly the individual character 
stands out ! Sir, it is one worthy of the great artist who, in different 
lights and shades, and under all circumstances, has painted the varied 
complexions, positions, and actions, of this his darling people. 

The facts prove, heyond a question, that these people are not to he 
believed, and that all their excuses for not taking part in the elections 
are false and totally unworthy of consideration. The true difficulty 
arises from the fact that their party had opposed the repeal of the 
Missouri compromise, because it restored the equality of the States ; 
and when defeated in their opposition to the repealing clause, they 
resorted to the unjustifiable and treasonable means referred to, in order 
to perpetuate the unjust operation of that law. For this purpose socie- 
ties were organized, first in this city, and then in the New England 
States, and in New York and Illinois, to supply men and money to 
keep up the excitement and widen the breach between the two great 
parties on this subject. This is the true source of the difficulty. All 
else are miserable pretenses. 

Mr. Chairman, it appears to me that no one honest, however preju- 
diced, can justify such conduct. It is trifling with the dearest rights 
of freemen, insulting to the majesty of the laws, and highly criminal, 
because it jeopardizes the blessings of civil liberty. The fact that 
these Lawrence republicans openly denied the authority of congres- 
sional enactments, and held in contempt the laws passed by their ter- 
ritorial legislature, cannot be ^denied ; and it is useless to attempt a 
justification on the grounds of irregularity or fraud on the part of the 
pro-slavery men. Nothing but the most outrageous tyranny, and the 
entire denial of justice and right, can justify their treasonable conduct. 

I have the honor to represent a portion of the metropolitan police 
district in the State of New York. There I have seen the chartered 
rights of the people taken irom them by a republican legislature, and 
their local municipal laws changed, against the solemn protest of every 
representative elected by them. I have seen their police regulations 
altered, by non-residents of the cities, who ha4 no property to guard, 
and no rights to protect, within the district. I have seen fifteen hun- 
dred thousand citizens taxed to support officers appointed by non-resi- 
dents, and who were objectionable to four-fifths of the entire popula- 
tion. I have seen officers duly elected by the people in that district, 
legislated out of office by republicans elected in and representing re- 
mote country districts ; and other men appointed to fill their places by 
a republican governor, and confirmed by a republican senate, who 
have been guilty of pipe-laying and other political frauds, compared 
with which, all that is charged to General Calhoun, would be un- 
worthy of consideration. All this, sir, the democrats of the cities of 
New York and Brooklyn have seen and suffered at the hands of the 
republicans of that State. The democrats at first refused to submit to 



w 

the invasion of their corporate rights ; but when the courts of law de- 
cided against them, they quietly submitted to the laws of their State. 
They did not strike at the judicial power, and defame and libel the 
courts and judges. No, sir ; they nominated and re-elected the very 
judge that decided against them. They sought their remedy in the 
ballot-box, and there they will wage their war against this republican 
invasion and tyranny until their ancient liberties are re-established. 
The republicans of New York are intensely excited by the wrongs 
committed upon a few hundred Lawrence rebels and mercenaries ; but 
they have no sympathy for one million and a half of their own fellow- 
citizens, whose rights they have invaded, and whose local government 
they have struck down. 

But, returning to the registratiou of the voters in Kansas, from 
which I digressed. The facts that they did not wish to be registered, 
and would not vote where it was done, are confirmed by their refusal to 
vote on the constitution when it was submittedwithout restriction. They 
excuse this by alleging that they could not defeat the constitution — 
could not vote it down ; that the constitution was not submitted to the 
people ; but that the slavery clause only was isubmitted. This is con- 
firmation stronger still that their opposition was factious — rebellious. 
They could have had no objection to the constitution, except as to the 
slavery clause ; and I challenge the republicans of this House to point 
out a single objection to it, beyond that single one of slavery, which 
is, in their opinion, objectionable. It is very like most of our State 
constitutions ; and is equal to the best of them. The question of sla- 
very was the only one at issue, and that was fully and fairly submitted. 
On this point, I desire to refer to the speech of the honorable gentle- 
man from Pennsylvania, [Mr. Grow,] made on the 30th day of June, 
1856, in favor of admitting Kansas under the Topeka constitution. 
He says : 

" Does tlie constitution meel, the sense of the people to be affected by it 9 The existence of sla- 
very-was the only question upon which the people were divided, and the vote for delegates to 
the convention (Topeka) settled that by a majority of legal votes." — (See .'ippendxx to Con- 
gressional Globe, first session thirty-fourth Congress, page 719.) 

It appears from this extract that the honorable gentleman did not 
then think it necessary to submit the constitution, or any part of it, 
to the people. He must have believed that the people could delegate 
a portion of their sovereign power to the convention, and that they 
were bound by its acts. In this I fully agree with the honorable 
gentleman. This doctrine of submission to the people is of modern 
growth ; is neither ratified by time, experience, nor sound judgment. 
Sir, ours is a representative government, and not a democracy. 

But what does the gentleman's party now say? That the whole 
instrument should have been submitted, and not merely the slavery 
clause ; and because it was not thus submitted, the cry of "fraud ! " 
" fraud ! " is heard as loud as was the cry of " bleeding Kansas ! " 
during the last Congress. It is a base, a vile attempt of a minority 
to force a constitution upon a reluctant majority. If they had a ma- 
jority, why did they not submit to registration, and vote either for 
delegates, and thus control the convention, or against the slavery clause 
in the constitution ? The Constitution, laws, and practice of our 
country provide legal modes of ascertaining the will of the majority ; 
why did they not accept this well-recognized mode, and fairly deter- 



li 

mine the question ? Their conduct throughout this whole difficulty is 
the only answer required by the country. 

Sir, the only question of importance, and on which the people dif- 
fered, was fully and fairly submitted ; and it was submitted precisely 
as they had been advised that it would be. In this there was no 
deception. Acting- Governor Stanton informed them, in his address 
of the 17th April, 1857, before the election of the delegates to the 
convention, of the fact. 

" I do not doubt, however, that, in order to avoid all pretext for resistance to the peacefal 
operation of this law, the convention itself will, in some form, provide for sxihinilling the great 
distraclini!; question regarding their social institutions, which has so long agitated the people of 
Kansas, to a fair vote of all the actual, bona fide residents of the Territory, with every possi- 
ble security against fraud and violence. If tlie constitution be thus framed, and the question 
of difference thus submitted to the decision of the people, I believe tliat Kansas will be admitted 
by Congress without delay." 

Governor Walker follows this explicit statement of his secretary, on 
the 27th day of May, 1857, and before the election of the delegates to 
the convention, in this language : 

" Under our practice, the preliminary act of framing a State constitution, is uniformly 
performed through the instrumentality of a convention of delegates, choseu by the people 
themselves." 

•' The people of Kansas, then, are invited by the highest authority known to the Constitu- 
tion, to participate freely and fairly in the election of delegates to frame a constitution and 
State government. The law has performed its entire appropriate function when it extends 
to the people the right of suffrage, but it cannot compel the performance of that duty. 
Throughout our whole Union, however, and wherever free government prevails, those 
who abstain from the exercise of the right of suffrage authorize those who do vote to act 
for them in that contingency, and the absentees are as much bound under the law and 
constitution, where there is no fraud or violence, by the act of the majority of those who 
do vote, as if all had participated in the election. Otherwise, as voting must be volun- 
tary, self-government would be impracticable, and monarchy or despotism would remain 
as the only alternative." 

It appears, from the history, that the republicans had full notice 
that the slavery clause only would be submitted. In the first in- 
stance, the legislature refused to require that it should be submitted, 
and passed the law over the governor's veto on that point ; secondly, 
Mr. Stanton's address distinctly referred to that fact. Thi3, sir, like 
all their other excuses, is a miserable pretense. They had taken no 
part in its formation ; had denied the authority of the legislature, and 
elected one of their own ; and had adopted a constitution of their own. 
Why should they talk about majorities, after the attempt to control 
the majority by the Topeka convention ? Why talk about submitting 
the whole constitution to the people, after refusing to submit even the 
slavery restriction in their own constitution ? 

But, sir, it is urged by certain gentlemen in and out of Congress 
that Kansas cannot be admitted under the Lecompton constitution, 
because there was no enabling act. I believe this objection, however, 
is not made by the republicans. It belongs to the honorable senator 
from Illinois, the great advocate for the admission of California. The 
history of the country furnishes very many examples of States coming 
into the Union on constitutions adopted without any enabling act. The 
enabling act simply directs the mode for the adoption of a constitution 
in a legal and orderly manner ; and, if this is done without an enabling 
act, there can be little or no objection to it. But the Kansas-Nebraska 
act was, in every sense of the word, an enabling act. " The terri- 
torial legislature, then, in assembling this convention, was fully sus- 



12 

tained by tlie act of Congress," is the language used by Mr. Walker ; 
*' and that it was clothed, in the comprehensive language of the or- 
ganic law, with full power to call a convention for the adoption of a 
State constitution." 

This is the opinion of a large majority of those qualified to judge ; 
and I believe that it was fully acquiesced in by the senator from 
Illinois until after his return to this city last November. However 
this may be, he distinctly and unreservedly held that opinion in his 
Springfield speech : 

" Kansas is about to speak for herself through her delegates, assembled in convention to 
form a constitution, preparatory to her admission into tlie Union on an equal footing with 
the original States. The law under which her delegates are about to be elected is beliered 
to be just and fair in all its objects and provisions. There is every reason to hope and 
believe that the law will be fairly interpreted and impartially e.Tecuted, so as to insure to 
every bona fide inhabitant the free and quiet exercise of the elective franchise. 

" If any portion of the inhabitants, acting under the advice of political loaders in distant 
States, shall choose to absent themselves froni the polls and withhold their votes, with a. 
view of leaving the free-State democrats in a minority, and thus securing a pro-slavery 
constitution, in opposition to the wishes of a majority of the people living under it, let the 
responsibility rest on those who, for partisan prrposea, will sacrifice the principles they 
profess to cherish and promote." »*«»••« Upon them, and upon th» 
political party for whose benefit, and under the direction of whose leaders they act, let the 
blame be visited of fastening upon the people of & new State institutions repugnant to their 
feelings and in violation of their wishes. 

*' The organic act secures to the people of Kansas the sole and exclusive right of forming 
and regulating their domestic institutions to suit themselves, subject to no other limitation 
than that which the Constitution of the United States imposes." 

After alluding to the desire of the democratic party to carry out the 
principles of the organic act and bring the State into the Union, he says: 

*• The present election law in Kansas is acknowledged to. be fair and just. The rights of 
the voters are clearly defined, and the exercise of those rights will be efficiently and scrupu- 
lously protected." * * * » "If such is not the result, let the consequences 
be visited upon the heads of those whose policy it is to produce strife, anarchy, and blood- 
shed in Kansas, that their party may profit by slavery agitation in the northern States of this 
Union." 

But whether he did or did not so hold in this case can make no 
difPerence. The honorable gentleman's course on the admission of 
California is not, and will not be forgotten. If his position was right 
on that subject, it is wrong now ; and if right now, he violated a great 
principle then. He can select between them ; but one thing is certain 
— he cannot reconcile the two positions. He was the eloquent and 
powerful advocate in favor of California's admission. He insisted 
upon it, well knowing that there had been no enabling act, and that 
none of the steps usually taken in the formation of a territorial gov- 
ernment, preparatory to its admission, had been taken. He well 
knew, at the time, that the convention which formed their constitu- 
tion had been called by a military officer, without authority, in viola- 
tion of law, and contrary to all former practice. In the terse language 
of another, the California convention was called by a brigadier general, 
by a proclamation written on the head of his drum. But, more than 
this, the honorable senator could not have been ignorant of the fact 
that that constitution was forced upon the people of California by a 
minority of the legal voters in the district. 

On the 6th day of July, 1850, before the admission of that State, 
the honorable senator from Florida [Mr. Yulee] had the following 
extracts from the debates in the California constitutional convention 
read in the Senate. — (See Appendix to Congressional Globe, thirty. 



13 

first Congress, first session, page 1168.) Mr, Carillo said that " he 
and his colleagues were under instructions to vote for a territorial 
organization." Mr. Gwin, the present distinguished senator, then 
said : 

" Are we not hero forcing a State government upon a portion of the people of California, 
whose delegates have, by their recorded votes, slated the fact that their constituents are 
unanimously against a State government, and in favor of a territorial organization ?" * 
» » » II •yy-g jjji kjiow what 36'^ 30' is. It is the great bono of contention. North 
of that line there is no contest. South of it there is a contest. If gentlemen will look where 
this line strikes the Pacific, they will see that not a solitary vote was cast by a delegate in tlie 
convention south of that line, except those cast against a State government. The repre- 
sentatives here from tliat region are unanimous in their votes against the establishment of a. 
Stftte government." * » » * "Not one half of that population knew of this 
convention, and etill we are forcing this government upon them, and upon ihe thousands and 
tens of thousands who have come in since the election." 

But gentlemen may say that this established the fact that certain 
parties did not vote for the constitution, or desire it, and not that a 
majority did not vote for it. The testimony of the leading paper, the 
*' Alta California," is directly to this point. It says : 

*' To the extent which our returns, up to the present time, enables us to form an opinion, 
it is established, beyond a shadow of doubt, that a minority only of the total number of voters 
in the districts heard from is represented by the official and unofficial returns. For instance, 
the district of Sacramento (taking the vote of the constitution as an aggregate) polled five 
thousand six hundred and five votes, which may be put down as scarcely amounting to one- 
fourth the number of electors which the district contains." * * » * "San 
Joaquin and San Jose show nearly equal deficiency in the numerical strength of their re- 
spective votes." » « # » " Our information, and it is authoritative, attributes 
the strength of this vote to the fact that in many precincts, remote from the great routes of 
travel through the northern country, the constitution was not distributed ; that it failed to 
reach those place.?, and that the action of the State convention was not known until within a 
day or two of the time appointed for holding the election." * * * * " It is 
natural to presume that the residents of sections thus situated, feeling aggrieved, have re- 
mained away from the polls altogether, and with the same propriety that others have resisted 
the constitution, both on the ground of not having seen tliat instrument. " — {.ippendix to 
Globe, page 11G8.) 

These are some of the irregularities in the formation and adoption 
of the constitution of California. They had no enabling act, except 
the sword and command of General Riley. Their constitution and 
State government were adopted in the convention against the protest 
of the delegates from a large section of the Territory ; and the consti- 
tution, when submitted to the people, failed to receive a majority of 
the legal votes in the State or district. In many sections it had not 
been distributed, and in others not in time for them to read it ; and 
these objections were urged, earnestly urged, against the admission 
of the State into the Union. What did the honorable senator from 
Illinois say on that occasion ? 

" But there is not an irregularity in the case of California which has not occurred and been 
waived in the admission of some new Slate into the Union. If the senator will point me to 
any irregularity in the case of California, I will point him to a corresponding one in tlie case 
of some other State which has been received into the Union." » * « « " I hold that the 
people of California had a right to do what they have done — yea, that they had a moral, po- 
litical, and legal right to do all they have done." — (Appendix to Globe, 1850, page 1523.) 

All these irregularities existed, and the honorable senator was not 
ignorant of them. He had examined them fully, and then and there 
solemnly indorsed the whole of them ; and what is still more import- 
ant in the present connection, he declared that they were neither 
novel nor important. I think the honorable gentleman will allow us to 
infer that some great change has taken place in his perceptive powers. 
In 1850 he could take California in with a free-State constitution — 



14 

adopted without an enabling act, and contrary to law, and forced upon 
the people by a minority — without the least compunction of conscience. 
Now, he turns away from the Lecompton constitution — provided ior 
by the organic law, and adopted according to, and under the act of 
their legislature, and in no particular more irregular than the Cal- 
ifornia constitution — with disgust and horror, crying only, but crying 
always, " fraud ! fraud ! fraud !" 

Sir, I desire not to do the honorable gentleman injustice. I honor 
his talents, and Avould be glad to respect his character ; but there is 
something inexplicable in his present position. It is a denial of all 
his past acts — a reversal of his previous decisions — a sacrifice of prin- 
ciples which he has so largely contributed to ingraft upon the legisla- 
tion of the country. * Let us hope that this aberration of his may be 
temporary only, and that soon his lofty genius will be revolving in 
its old conservative orbit, shedding a broad and certain light upon 
his course, and not the irregular and uncertain rays which serve only 
to dazzle and bewilder. 

But, Mr. Chairman, the republicans object to the admission of 
Kansas under the Lecompton constitution, because that constitution 
makes no provision for its change or amendment until 1864. After 
the experience which we have had in this country in matters of that 
kind, and the well established principle that the sovereign authority 
is vested in the people, we may well doubt their sincerity. Governor 
Walker refers to this matter, in alluding to the arguments of southern 
gentlemen of leading positions, in his letter of the 15th ot July, 1857. 
He says, if a constitution is adopted without submitting it to the 
people, the republicans — 

— " driven by such a course into violent opposition to southern institutions, will elect an abo- 
lition State legislature, send two abolition senators to the Senate of the United States, and 
a member to Congress, entertaining similar sentiments ; and that, at a very early period, they 
would amend the constitution, and make it hostile, in every respect, to the institutions of 
the south. Yet they would have been admitted as a State, and their power to amend the 
State constitution could not be arrested. Thus it would happen that whilst for a short time 
Kansas would have a pro-slavery constitution on parchment, she would be rendered by this 
course, in fact, an abolition State, opposed to the fugitive slave law, and necessarily producing 
collision with the coterminous State of Missouri. " 

This language is important^ not only so far as his authority goes, 
(and no one doubts his ability,) but it is important as a reflection of 
southern views on the power of the people of Kansas to change their 
constitution as soon as they are admitted into the Union. This right 
and power of the people cannot be denied. They may change their 
constitution peaceably at any time. They may adopt the mode 
pointed out by the constitution for its alteration and amendment ; or 
they may adopt some other mode equally justifiable, if not so entirely 
regular. The legislatures in the different States may submit the ques- 
tion to the people as prescribed in their respective constitutions ; or 
they may submit the question of a convention to the people in any 
other mode ; and if the people decide in favor of a convention and 
elect one, its action will be as legal and binding upon them as if the 
exact form or mode prescribed in the Constitution had been observed. 
It is a question of formality, not of legality. 

The honorable gentleman from Pennsylvania, [Mr. Grow,] to 
whom I have already alluded, and for whom I entertain sincere 
respect, in his speech of the 30th of June, 1856, says : 



1^ 

" The right of a people to alter or abolish their form of government is an inherent one, 
and is classed in the Declaration of Independence as indispensable to the inalienable rights of 
man." 

The distinguished senator from New York [Mr. Seward] is still 
more direct and positive on this subject. In his speech delivered in 
the Senate July 2, 1856, he says : 

" Mr. President, another and lighter objection has been urged against my bill, [his bill for 
the admission of Kansas under the Topeka constitution,] namely : that tlie Topeka constitu- 
tion provides that it shall not be changed in less tlian nine years. I do not know this fact, 
but I am bound to assume it on the statement of the honorable senator from Georgia, My 
answer is, that I am not responsible for that provision in the constitution. * * * I 
reply to both of those objections. I take the constitution, as we must all take it, for better 
or for worse — ^^just as it is— or we cannot admit the State at all. The people m new States 
make their own constitutions. Our power is limited to the admission or rejection of a State, 
whatever its constitution may bo. Agairf, it is not clear that the provision complained of by 
the senator from Georgia will prevent the people of Kansas from subverting this constitution 
and establishing a new one at any time short of the expiration of nine years. The constitu- 
tion of the State of New York, established in 1821, provided ior alteration only to be made 
with the consent of two successive legislatures. A party desiring radical innovations, and 
finding it impossible to obtain that object in the form prescribed in the Constitution, secured a 
majority in the legislature, and, without any constitutional authority, carried through a law 
by which proceedings were instituted for calling a convention, which was subsequently held, 
and which framed a new constitution. This new constitution being submitted to the people, 
and approved by them, in derogation of the old one, became, and it yet remains, the supreme 
law of the land." — {Congressional Globe, p. 790.) 

Mark, the senator says we must take the constitution just as it is, 
and admit the State, or not at all. '^ The people in new States make 
their own constitutions," not Congress. The objection to which the 
honorable senator referred as of more weight than the one just 
answered, was that the Topeka convention was unauthorized by law. 
He, however, insists that it was fully authorized by the practice in 
such cases ; and he refers to the admission of California, to which I 
have already alluded. 

In this connexion, I might quote from the speech of the honorable 
gentlemen from Pennsylvania, (Mr. Grow,) and to those of other 
leading republicans,, all of whom indorse the honorable senator's 
doctrine ; but I am not certain that these gentlemen deny it now. 
They object to the legality of the Lecompton convention, and to the 
constitution, because it prescribes how it shall be amended after 1S64, 
and makes no provision for alteration before that period. 

But these gentlemen held the reverse of both of these propositions 
in their places on this floor in June and July, 1856, less than two 
years since. Then, the Topeka constitution, adopted by a convention 
called without the semblange of law, and in open rebellion to the 
legally constituted authorities, was regular in their jfidgments ; and 
its provisions, although they struck down the rights of property, and 
were in violation of the Constitution of the United States, were just 
and proper. That constitution was more stringent in its amendment 
clause ; tor it not only postponed the right to alter and amend, as far 
as it could, for nine years, but it expressly prohibited alteration or 
amendment until the expiration of that period ; and what is still 
worse, the Topeka convention adopted that constitution without sub- 
mitting any part of it to the people, and leading republicans here and 
elsewhere did all in their power to force it upon the majority of the 
citizens of 'Ivansas. No one can .doubt the fact that the Topekaites 
were then in a minority, if they are not now. With these facts be- 
fore it, the country will judge the sincerity of the republicans. 




016 089 359 n< 



,^ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

Little or no doubt cau exist in reference tc 
Legislature to pass a law, at any time subm 
change, alteration, or amendment of their con 
and none that the people may in their sovereign capacity, decide in 
favor of a convention to eflbct such change, alteration, or amendment ; 
otherwise the convention might make the constitution permanent. If 
the men of this year can bind the men of 1860, they can bind the peo- 
ple of 1960. Admit this principle, and this generation will have 
power to bind unborn generations. By it you invest the dead with 
more authority than the living. Government requires that the ma- 
jority shall yield up some of their natural rights, and in their political 
relations admit certain limitations and restraints for the good of the 
whole society : but the majority may, at all times, in a legal way, 
limit or extend these delegated powers of*the government. 

Mr. Chairman, tiiivf^^^or-^-'ents me from extending my argument, I 
therefore quit the sulij.,cl. A careful, and I trust a candid investiga- 
tion of it, leaves my mind without a doubt about the propriety and 
duty of admitting Kansas under the Lecompton constitution. The 
facts justify this course, and the interests and peace of the country im- 
peratively demand it. 

In speaking of the conduct of the republicans in Kansas, I ha^e 
necessarily used strong language in denouncing their policy ; but 
because I have not condemned the conduct of the pro-slavery party in 
that Territory, it must not be inferred that I approve their course or 
justify all their conduct. I do not do so. While they have been 
guilty of many things wholly unjustifiable, they have not openly 
attempted to overthrow the government. Frauds and great wrongs 
they may have committed ; but the crimes of rebellion and treason 
cannot justly be charged against them. These high offences are 
clearly established against the republicans of that Territory. But do 
not understand me to charge such disloyalty on all republicans. That 
party contains many noble spirits, who are influenced by the highest 
and purest motives, and who are as much devoted to the Union of 
thege States as any gentleman on this side of the House. I honor 
such men, wherever found. They differ with us, as they have an 
undoubted right to do, and I respect their opinions and feelings. 
With such gentlemen 1 have no harsh words to exchange. I believe 
them, as they doubtless believe me, to be mistaken ; but I look for- 
ward to the time when we shall stand side by side in the defence 
of the Union 'and the Constitution, By whomsoever they may be 
assaulted. 

On this great, this important issue, my humble convictions are 
against them. My views of duty and my love of country lead me in 
a different direction. If I err in conceding and maintaining the 
equality of the States, I err with the illustrious spirits who formed 
the Constitution of our federal Union — with Franklin and Madison 
and Washington. If I err in my course on the question now before 
us, I err with the distinguished and time-honored statesmen com- 
posing the present administration, who so justly enjoy the confidence 
of the country, and who can have no other object than i|s peace, its 
prosperity, its honor, and its glory. To err with such men, is ex- 
cusable, but to err against them, is criminal. 



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